dummy ridding strategies

[percy]

I wondered if anyone had any clever tactics for dropping the dummy. Ds will be 3 in 2 weeks time and I think it would be a good thing to finally say bye to the dummy (new baby is due in 8 weeks also). Currently he only has the dummy in the car, and to sleep with at night and sometimes if he is very tired on the sofa for a 'rest'. However, he is pretty attached to it at those times and will cry for it. Any good ideas would be most appreciated????

Mine were very attached to their dummies, but one day I decided to get rid of them. My DS's were proberbly the same age as yours or a little less, I let them keep the dummies until they were really horible, they looked blackish inside, then I cut them open and showed them, the mould stuff inside.
And that was that no requests for dummies anymore !!!
A bit harsh perhaps, but it worked .

My ds was similar age and I was dreading getting rid of the it but it was getting to the stage where even I couldnt stand the sight of it so we talked about it and he said he would throw it away when we came back from holiday and I can honestly say that it was so much easier than I had expected - he was still sleeping during the day and that was a bit of a struggle and the first night without it took slightly longer to drop off without it but what I am really saying is talk to him agree a day you will throw it away and go for it - never looked back - no more panicking when we couldnt find one etc etc Good luck

My two both loved their dummies, I talked to them and used a bribe too - ds wanted a goldfish (his friend who had one no longer had his dummy so that seemed a good bribe) - basically persuaded them to put their dummy in the bin and that was it - ds took it much harder than dd, his first night was very difficult and he woke several times crying but I was determined I was not giving in (I was also pg with dd at the time), the second night wasn't too bad, he just took a little longer to settle than usual and the third night he was fine - just woke a couple of times and seemed a bit unsettled. I purposely chose a few days when dh was working away as I knew he would give in.

percy, I've been thinking about this too - dd is 2yr, 8mth and I don't want to take the dummy off her so close to the baby's birth, now 5 weeks away, especially as other changes have been happening thick & fast - new duvet, sides about to come off her cotbed, potty training looking pretty good etc etc. I suggested the other day (half jokingly) that we could give the new baby her dummies and she said yes, but I'll believe it when I see it

Like the others, I waited until I thought DS was ready, then started talking to him about getting rid of them. He decided when to do it (whilst he had chickenpox, so not the best time), we agreed on a special treat he could have if he threw them away, then we collected up every single dummy from all over the house/car/bags etc and he took them to the outside bin and threw them in one by one, then we went and bought the toy (with chickenpox spots!) and he never mentioned them again. Good luck, I'm sure it will be much easier than you think

I echo everyone who says it is much easier than you'd expect--and my ds was REALLY, truly attached to his dummy. We got rid of it a couple of weeks ago for good. He's 3. I tried bribery, which, though tempting to him, was never quite as appealing as just keeping the dummy. Then one night I told him they were all lost. (True: I couldn't find any at that moment.) He whinged for a few minutes, but then went to sleep. Second night was the same. All subsequent nights were fine. We rewarded him by buying the spiderman costume he'd been coveting, and generally giving him lots of praise.

I have a several friends and acquaintances who have been going through the same with their 3-year-olds. They have ALL remarked that getting rid of the dummy was much easier than they expected. One made the wise observation that in a way it's us, as parents, who depend upon the dummy as a tool even more than our children do. It's that last-resort way to settle them, and it's a hard thing for us to give up. . .

P.S. Bundle--I think you're right to wait a bit before taking away dd's dummy. I was where you are 6 mos ago, and in a way the dummy was all ds had in the way of consistency.

thanks for the reassurance expatkat!

Expatkat - I have to say you are spot on saying it is us parents who sometimes depend on the dummy more. When my ds gave his up, in the first few weeks there were times when he would be bawling his eyes out and I would be just itching to give him his dummy. Luckily, for his sake, I never did, and he has been dummy free ever since.

thanks for all the advice guys - i think we will work out a scheme involving giving it up when he is 3 (in 2 weeks time) and some bribery/ exchange system involving birthday pressies. oh my parenting skills are solely based on bribery and threats - hoorah.

my little boy who is now 3 got rid of his dummey at two. i took him to the hop farm were he went to see the horses. And he throw his dummey at them and the trainer gave it back to me but he did not see him do that.So i never gave it back to him now he he dose not has not had one.

I wrote on another thread about this. We were shopping, when DS dropped his dummy on the ground outside Boots. A puppy trotted up to us, from nowhere, snapped up the dummy and bogged off as fast as it could. DS was shocked and outraged, then incredulous. He accepted the fact that the dummy was gone for good, and the rest would be history if he hadn't gone and found another under the sofa when he got home. There was no whinging in the car on the way home though; I think the trick must be for them to think it really has gone, rather than knowing you have one up your sleeve somewhere that you're just not giving them.